RESISTENTIT BAKTEERIT

[Bb]

Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 20.4.2004 10:11

Useimmat bakteerit jakautuvat 20 minuutin välein. Borreliabakteeri sen sijaan jakautuu erittäin hitaasti; noin 24 tunnin välein - mm. tästä syystä bakteerin tuhoaminen elimistöstä on vaikeaa. Seuraavan mielipiteen mukaan riittämättömät antibioottihoidot (liian lyhyet, alhainen annostus) ovat syynä antibiooteille vastustuskykyisten bakteerikantojen kasvuun.


Poughkeepsie Journal

Monday, April 19, 2004

Letters to the editor

Writer's statements misinterpret science

Letter-writer Paul Macielak's claim that Lyme disease treatment leads to antibiotic-resistant Lyme is based on cynicism, not science.

Antibiotic-resistant diseases arise when the method of transmission is from human to human. Does he claim Lyme is no longer being passed from animals to ticks to humans? Am I now going to get it from my kids?

His ignorant claim is more absurd when we just do the math. Most antibiotics work by preventing bacteria from forming their cell wall when they divide, and most bacteria divide every 20 minutes. In other words, a 10 days' course of antibiotics will have 720 chances to kill the bugs that make us ill. But the Lyme bug is unusual in that it divides only every 24 hours or so. This means that 10 days of antibiotics gives us not 720 shots at killing Lyme, but only 10. Isn't that an inadequate response to such a serious public health concern? And isn't weak treatment like that the reason we have antibiotic-resistant diseases?

Mr. Macielak misuses genuine public health concerns to deliberately mislead us. He wants only to save his companies a bundle of money. And treating Lyme is indeed terribly inconvenient.

The medical professions cannot operate effectively if their representatives cynically spread misinformation. The New York Health Plan Association should get rid of Mr. Macielak and find a more responsible chief executive officer.

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